Hellhound
by ZAFO
Summary: A grope on the wrong girl lands Miroku far, far from home. Takes place starting from OVA 1, "Ilse's Notebook."
1. Tokyo Abandoned

**Hellhound**

By ZAFO

 **A/N:** I've been sucked into the Attack on Titan fandom...but as is always the case, I'm still very much married to all my old fandoms. The numerous crossovers I write are a way to cope with all my warring feels :p

In any case, this story came about cos... I love Inuyasha! And I've noticed that whenever there is a crossover, it's always Kagome who gets to do the dimension-traveling—which I like to read. However, I still think that the other characters should get some shine as well. Enter Miroku :D Enjoy!

* * *

—

 **Chapter 1:** Tokyo Abandoned

It wasn't his fault, really, that Kagome and Sango looked so much alike from the back. Sure, there were distinguishing attributes between the two such as their haircuts, heights, and builds, but really… Who paid attention to those?

All it took was one grope for Koga—yes Koga—to lose his cool. If it had only been Inuyasha with them, the dog demon would've merely rolled his eyes and planted a firm foot on his head, but nooooooo. Koga was there too, and Koga had seen "his" woman molested.

Molested. What a strong word!

He said this, very clearly, when the wolf demon had shouted at him, and in response Koga had merely stalked over (with Inuyasha and Shippo sniggering in the background), picked him up by the collar, and thrown him down the nearby well—despite both girl's half-hearted protests.

He didn't put up too much of a struggle, until he began to feel his body warp.

' _Ah,'_ he thought, absentmindedly. _'It's bright.'_

Sango and Shippo's cries of alarm were the last thing he heard before the void consumed him.

* * *

—

Koga sputtered once the sudden flare of light dimmed down.

"What the hell was _that?!"_ he asked, disbelieving.

"Huh." Inuyasha grunted, scratching his head. "So the pervert can use the well too."

"What does that mean?!"

"None of your business, flea breath!"

"Why you—"

"—stop it!" Kagome interrupted, before the two canines could fall into another testosterone-fueled tumble. "Don't you guys ever get tired of that?"

"Kagome's right." Sango chided, her surprise at Miroku's disappearance wearing off. "In any case, Koga, you shouldn't overreact like that. Miroku's antics are a regular thing around here."

"A regular thing…" Koga muttered. "Che, disgusting!"

"Anymore disgusting than you?" Inuyasha asked snidely. "Ya stalker!"

"I'm not a—"

"— _Koga,"_ Kagome punctuated, rather forcefully, "listen, that was really sweet of you to um, defend my honor like that, but next time, _please_ keep away from the well!"

"Why?" the wolf demon asked cautiously.

"Because that's where Kagome's from!" Shippo piped up.

" _What."_

"It's a long story." Sango sighed. "In any case, Inuyasha, Kagome—can either of you go retrieve the idiot?"

"I'll do it." Kagome answered cheerfully. "Be right back!"

"Hurry, before he 'molests' one of your little school friends." Inuyasha grumbled. Sango shot him a glare before Kagome casually waved them all off, hopping down the well with one hand clutching onto a backpack strap.

Instead of the similar flash of light, however, there was merely a blunt _thud_ as Kagome made a rough tumble to the bottom.

"OUCH!" She shrieked, clutching onto her ankle in the darkness and dank.

"KAGOME!" yelled both canine demons, as they rushed to her aid.

Inuyasha and Koga cooperated peacefully for once as they pulled the girl out, each boy holding onto a respective arm. Kagome was whimpering all the while; it was clear that she had injured her ankle. As Shippo, Koga, and Inuyasha began to fuss over the priestess, however, Sango stood rooted a little distance away. A vague sense of apprehension began to creep over her.

"Guys…" she said slowly. "The well didn't work."

"So?!" snapped Inuyasha, before realization dawned on him. "Oh, wait…"

Kagome gasped. "Oh no!"

"What? What's going on?!" Koga demanded, bewildered.

"Inuyasha!" Shippo called out, ignoring the wolf demon. "Can you try instead?"

"Lemme see." The hanyou replied.

He gave Kagome's leg a gentle pat before clambering to his feet. Inuyasha stepped briskly over to the well, then after giving it a suspicious, precursory sniff, hopped right in. Much to Kagome's envy, the dog demon landed gracefully to the bottom—but _landed_ nonetheless, without any light, time-traveling, nor fanfare.

"Uh-oh." He muttered. "It's fuckin' sealed."

* * *

—

Climbing out of the well was a miserable affair, and Miroku had to hand to Kagome for doing it so often without complaint. The vines adorning the walls were flimsy and snapped easily, while the moss growing over each stone gave a horrendous amount of slip. Nonetheless, after much huffing and puffing, Miroku managed to drag himself out. He'd have to ask the priestess how she got the dirt out from under her fingernails later.

Brushing off his newly-soiled robes, Miroku curiously took sight of the village around him. Huh. For 500 years into the future, Miroku was expecting much more than this. Instead of "high-rises," "cars," "airplanes," or whatever other newfangled inventions Kagome had told him about, there were merely an abundance of oddly shaped red-and-white stone buildings, and the occasional stray livestock animal poking around them. It was rather disappointing.

' _Wait…'_

Miroku squinted.

Where were all the people? Now that he took a good look at it, the Kagome's village was disconcertingly empty.

The wind blew through there then, and the faint, eerie whistle only served to highlight the utter silence permeating throughout the town. He paled slowly, a hundred worse-case scenarios flooding through his mind.

Miroku took a deep breath. After another careful look at his surroundings, the monk clutched his Shakujo staff defensively, thankful that he hadn't dropped it when Koga threw him down the well.

Kagome had often told their little group about her family. About her kindly housewife mother, her senile grandfather, and her annoying little brother. Where were they now? This was not natural. Someone should have made a fuss about his weird emergence—yet the only reaction he had gotten thus far was a soft whinny from an aimless horse. Was Kagome's family ok? Were the villagers ok? The schoolgirl would never forgive him if he let things be... so with some quick clicks of the tongue, Miroku beckoned over the nearest horse. It trotted to him obediently and nudged his outstretched hand.

He sighed, then apologized fondly to the creature when it gave a soft whinny.

"Sorry, no carrots for you. But let me on? I'll brush out your mane later."

The horse was compliant as he climbed on. To his disturbance, there was still a fully-functional saddle and reins mounted on it.

Miroku frowned.

Abandoned? No, horses were too valuable to abandon. Something was definitely wrong here.

Tucking his staff into his lap, Miroku grasped the leather reins and steered his new beast of burden through the small village. For the next two hours, he made many stops, peeked through many windows, and opened many doors. He found no answers.

Nothing. Zip. Nada.

The monk's face had grown progressively grim all the while.

"I have to go tell Kagome." He decided. "I have to go get help."

But after bidding his horse adieu and hopping down the well once again, Miroku discovered that the well was, indeed, in Inuyasha's words, _"fuckin' sealed."_

* * *

—

A full day had passed since the monk had arrived to the village, and there was no way to go but out. Miroku had resigned himself to this fact; it was useless to stay in the village, and he couldn't predict the next time the well was going to open again.

Plus, he was starving. He figured that his friends were having some trouble on the other side as well, since no one had come to retrieve him in the last 24 hours. Miroku therefore saw no harm in trying to scrounge up some food from the surrounding forest until either Inuyasha or Kagome came to get him. In any case, the dog demon's nose could simply track him down later, regardless of distance. Easy peasy. He even tore a sweaty piece of fabric from his robes and stuffed it in a crevice in the well wall, just to make things even easier. That would save the dog demon's nose some effort.

Until then, into the forest it was.

Perhaps he could look further into the disappearance of the villagers as well...

* * *

—

Three hours later, Miroku was feeling increasingly frustrated. Large game was skittish and bounded away as soon as he crept onto the scene. Small game scurried off so fast he was never sure if they were there in the first place. And so far, the forests in Kagome's time seemed utterly devoid of palatable nuts or berries. Miroku had come across a mushroom or two, of course, but his familiarity with fungi was shaky at best. Risking vomiting, diarrhea, death, or God forbid— _infertility_ wasn't an option for him.

The monk huffed.

There was a reason why he preferred to scam people for food and lodging—hunting and gathering was really an _Inuyasha_ thing. Nevertheless, his hunger pangs were killing him, and so Miroku moved on, keeping a keen eye out for anything edible.

Of course, he soon galloped across something completely the opposite.

"Oh, Lord Buddha…" he murmured, as he came face-to-face with a headless skeleton tucked into the rough cavity of a tree.

All the flesh had long ago been picked off by insects, and the chipped ivory bones were left gleaming in the dark of the chasm. The corpse was dressed oddly, however: dirty white paints with multiple straps secured at the hip, a light tan leather jacket with some kind of winged symbol on the breast, and an emerald-green cloak still tied at the neck.

Miroku decided then that it must have been the work of demons. That was usually the case in the Sengoku period, after all.

"Did you suffer?" He murmured. "I'm sorry that you died alone."

Taking out some beads from his cloak, Miroku began a quiet prayer for the body.

* * *

—

"Hello, nice weather isn't it!"

"Hey, do you want to take a walk inside the walls with me? How about it?"

"Whoa! That was close!"

"Uh-oh, are you okay? Come over here!"

"That's it, that's good a boy!"

Hanji continued her barrage of conversation as the blonde titan lumbered after her, looking curiously panicked. Was she interpreting that expression correctly? Could titans even panic? Before Hanji had time to fully contemplate that, however, a red flare shot across the field.

Levi's doing. The dead-eyed corporal was monotone as he taunted:

"Over here, stupid."

The titan shifted its attention accordingly. Hanji had to bite back the jealousy in her voice as she shouted at him not to interfere, doing her best to divert its attention back to herself. That attention, however, only lasted a moment before the titan stopped abruptly. Any doubt she had before dissipated completely upon sight of the titan's now-openly distressed expression.

' _Titans have emotions…!'_ Hanji thought excitedly. _'I don't care what Erwin says, I've seen it with my own eyes now!'_

However, to the Survey Corps' confusion, the Titan then opted to run _from_ them, in the complete opposite direction. Hanji felt her enthusiasm flare up even further.

This one was special. A special Abnormal.

This one, she was going to capture and study, Erwin be damned.

To Levi's chagrin, she charged straight after it, back into the dense forest. The corporal went after her. Petra, Oluo, Gunther, and Eld immediately followed.

* * *

—

When Miroku finished tucking away the tattered notebook he had found after his prayer, thundering footsteps headed straight towards the clearing. The monk's eyes widened upon turning to see an almost caricature-like 'demon' emerging from the surrounding trees. It was big and grotesque, and _naked_ to boot. Vaguely, he wondered if this thing was one of Naraku's newest incarnations.

And so he asked.

His voice was calm and steady; it stopped the bewildered beast in its tracks.

"Are you one of Naraku's?"

" _ **NA…RA….KU?"**_ It repeated, with difficulty.

"Ah, never mind then." The monk said casually.

His pitch-black eyes, however, were steely as he continued to stare it down. In response, the demon merely gasped, with its grotesque mouth wide and salivating.

A bespectacled woman on her own horse arrived on the scene then. She stopped just short of entering the clearing, and stared in wonder as the monk and the creature continued to interact with one another. Miroku chose to ignore her. This demon seemed stupid, and stupid things were more volatile and prone to overreaction; he knew this because Inuyasha was the King of Stupid. It was best not to draw its attention away from himself too quickly, lest the brunette was actually defenseless.

"You seemed like you were looking for something." Miroku drawled. "Is it that poor soul in the tree?"

The demon was hyperventilating now. Its teeth were bared in an almost painful manner.

Right on cue, squad Levi arrived as well. Following Hanji, they stationed themselves a little ways from the scene, watching the events unfold in a tense, somewhat bewildered silence.

"I'm right, aren't I?" The monk continued. "You killed him. Or her. Why?"

The demon let out a sudden groan. The mournful sound reverberated throughout the clearing, and Miroku almost felt sorry for it as it fell to its knees. Then, he was rendered speechless as it moved to grip the corners of its eyes, wrenching until the skin split open. Crimson-red blood fell in rivets as it continued to moan, almost in agony, perhaps in regret...

"Enough." Levi muttered, subtly so as only his team could hear. "We end this. It's vulnerable." He managed to pull his swords out halfway before Hanji hissed at him.

"No. Not now! It's not dangerous yet!"

"It's a _titan!"_ Oluo whispered frantically. "It's always dangerous!"

Hanji shot him a withering glare worthy of Levi himself. It was a look that promised a world of hurt if he dared dispute her again. Oluo backed down accordingly.

 _"Not. Now._ " She gritted.

Meanwhile, Miroku was debating various courses of action to take. On one hand, the demon was a murderer and practically admitted to the corpse's demise. On the other hand, it was obviously remorseful—and judging from the lack of immediate fear or anger from their new _human_ audience, he figured that it hadn't killed in a while.

The 'demon' released another loud wail, and Miroku decided then what he needed to do.

Life wasn't always black and white. He wouldn't feel at ease if he killed a demon like this, though he still couldn't predict how dangerous it really was. He was a Man of Buddha™, after all.

"I'm putting you out of commission." Miroku said simply, as he hopped off his horse and walked slowly towards the creature. "Relax. You're going to sleep. You're going to be at peace for a long, long while."

Inuyasha would've mauled him if he knew the monk hoarded sealing spells. Miroku, however, thought firmly that it helped to have every option available for subduing different enemies—in _any_ given situation. Maybe, someday, his seals could even be used on that damn Naraku, if the bastard ever proved too outright hard to kill.

In any case, Miroku pulled out a set of painstakingly-written sacred sutras from his robes, then threw them in sharp succession towards the demon. With a sizzle and a few sparks of holy energy, the three slips of parchment paper attached themselves to the demon's head, belly, and crotch. The characters written on them represented "heaven," "earth," and "hell," respectively—altogether, the sequence was intended to induce a state of "purgatory." As such, the sutras did their work rather splendidly.

"Rest now." He commanded, with one hand set in prayer under his chin.

The demon gave a final groan and keeled over completely.

It wasn't dead, but it was immobile, and it would stay that way indefinitely so long as the sutras were kept in place.

He smiled and turned to face his little audience.

* * *

—

The Survey Corps (excluding Levi, at least outwardly) gaped at the strangely-dressed man before them. This strangely-dressed man had managed to take down—though not kill, since the thing was still breathing—a _real_ Titan without 3DMG gear. It was an extraordinary feat, and until now completely unheard of.

"Hello!" The man called politely. "Are you the villagers from….ah…" he struggled a bit before finishing his sentence, seemingly forgetting the name. "…from Tokyo?"

It was Petra who found her voice first.

"Tokyo…?" She asked hesitantly.

"No?" The man frowned. "But I was so sure…you are Kagome Higurashi's fellow villagers, correct?"

"We don't know who this 'Kagome Higurashi' is." Levi deadpanned, on guard. "But, you're coming with us."

"I'd love to!" He chirped immediately. "Will there be food and lodging?"

Team Levi glanced briefly at one another, unsure of what to say, before Hanji interrupted the brief silence by galloping over to the man energetically.

"Of course!" She answered, almost reverently, hopping off her horse to greet him properly. "For someone who managed to subdue a live Titan for me—we'll turn our entire base into a _hotel_ for you!"

"Now hold on a minute." Levi gritted.

He was ignored as Hanji and the man clasped hands together as if they had known each other their entire lives. Both were almost annoyingly gleeful.

Then, unexpectedly—

"—oh what a lovely, generous woman you are! Will you please bear my child?"

[to be continued…]

* * *

Please, tell me what you think! ^^


	2. Origami

**Hellhound**

By ZAFO

 **A/N:** To start this story, I followed an AoT timeline that someone figured out on Tumblr. Here's part of it below:

 _847_ _ **-**_ _Our protagonists and the traitors enter training as part of the 104th Trainee class._

 _848_ _\- Ilse Langnar encounters a speaking Titan on the 34th Expedition outside the Walls_

 _849_ _\- Ilse's Notebook discovered by Hanji and Levi. Annie begins teaching Eren to fight._

 _850_ _\- The Invasion of Trost._

 _\- Roughly a week or so after that encompasses Trost cleanup/the courtroom scene/Sawney and Bean's deaths._

 _\- One month (30 days) after that is the 57th Expedition outside the Walls._

As for the timeline in the Inuyasha-verse… well, that's a surprise ;)

—

* * *

 **Chapter 2:** Origami

—

Levi Rivaille worked by the book, but there was no official military precedent on how to deal with someone who wasn't either a civilian, a criminal, or titan. In addition, Erwin wasn't there to give him specific orders, and as such, the strange man simply ended up riding beside them. It was a bizarre situation.

The mood, however, was surprisingly at ease. Levi led their little group in front, while Hanji, Petra, and the pervert (Miroku) were clustered in a cramped trio behind him. Following them all was a grouchy Oluo, and following Oluo were Eld and Gunther.

Currently, Miroku was chatting away to Hanji while occasionally diverting his attention to flirt with a flustered Petra. Oluo had taken an instant dislike to the man—as he did with most people—whereas Gunther and Eld were simply busy trying to balance the subdued titan on their horses.

Levi himself was rather ambivalent. The man seemed harmless enough, but they knew next-to-nothing about him, and it was glaringly obvious that he came from Beyond the Walls. His features were, simply put, _different,_ though not unpleasant. There was a rounded, almost feminine curve to his face, and his pitch-black eyes were slanted into unusual almonds. Then there was the fact that he apparently followed a religion (Buddhism?) that none of them had ever heard of, and possessed 'holy' powers capable of taking down a four-meter titan. The Wallists were going to go ballistic with _those_ details…

In any case, they planned to secure him an extra Survey Corps uniform before returning to Wall Rose. The robes he currently wore had a distinctly foreign flare to them, and would undoubtedly draw unwanted attention since purple was an expensive dye reserved for royals. It wouldn't do to have the civilians start spreading outlandish rumors about his origins. Speaking of which...

Levi glanced back discreetly at a laughing Miroku.

 _Miroku._

Even his name was bizarre. However, Levi had once come across a name with a vaguely similar feel before, while inspecting the 104th Trainee Class roster: Mikasa. Mikasa Ackermann. Her training progress was impressive, and Keith Shadis had maintained she was a prodigy with enough potential to surpass Levi himself. Levi sincerely doubted that, of course, but he still hoped the trainee would choose to enter the Survey Corps later to lend them her strength. In any case, her file also mentioned a more interesting fact—that Mikasa was the last Asian, and that that was why her name was atypical, and why her petite features were so dark and pixie-like.

This man was likely Asian, like Mikasa. Not to mention the fact that he was looking for someone named _'Kagome Higurashi'_ in a place called _'Tokyo.'_ That meant that there were still other Asians out there. That meant that there was a whole race of people—maybe even multiple races of people—who had survived the titans and were living Beyond the Walls. Levi didn't even know what to make of the implications of that.

"You." The corporal said shortly, falling behind to ride side-by-side with Miroku. "Why the fuck are you coming with us so easily?"

The man gave a lopsided smile. Levi didn't know it, but the corporal reminded Miroku of a short, dark-haired Inuyasha. Both seemed equally foul-mouthed and irritable.

"Well, you've treated me well thus far," he said honestly "and lovely Hanji here promised to feed and house me!"'

He winked accordingly at Hanji. Levi's lip curled at Miroku's blatant philandering. Hanji herself simply grinned before steering the conversation back to that of titans.

"We should give our titan a name once we get back to base." She babbled. "Would you like to do the honors, Miroku, since you were the one who captured him?"

Miroku rubbed his chin thoughtfully, one hand still gripping a leather rein.

"How about… Jinenji?" he suggested, eyes settling, for some reason, on his beast of burden.

Oluo nearly snorted, galloping jauntily into their growing group to harass Miroku.

"These names of yours," he jeered. "Why are they such a mouthful?"

"Now that's just mean." Miroku chided, unperturbed. "Jinenji is actually the name of a friend of mine!"

"You want to name a Titan after your _friend?"_ Petra asked, in disbelief.

Miroku shrugged.

"Why not? _That_ demon could barely speak, but from what I saw of his personality, it was similar to that of Jinenji's: guilty, insecure, and constantly distressed. Well—he isn't like that anymore, but when we first met he possessed the textbook half-blood disposition. I figured it was fitting!"

Levi Rivaille finally stirred at this. Something was off—had actually _been_ off this whole time.

Friend? Half-blood?

The corporal narrowed his eyes. It didn't make any sense.

The first thing they asked Miroku after the whole bear-my-child fiasco was what exactly he had done to subdue the Titan. In his answer, Miroku had continuously referred to the titan as a 'demon,' but Levi had assumed at the time that his word choice had been based on opinion rather than definition. Yet, Miroku's tone when referring to Hanji's new test subject as _'that_ demon' suggested its new namesake—Jinenji—was of the same species.

But how could Jinenji be a _friend_ if he was a titan? Titans could not be 'friends.' They were not sentient beings. Moreover, Miroku could not have been referring to titans when he spoke of 'half-bloods' because titans had no reproductive organs; the copulation between humans and titans was physiologically impossible.

That meant that they had been speaking about totally different entities the entire time.

Hanji caught onto these discrepancies as well, furrowing her brows.

"Wait… half-blood?"

Team Levi looked focused on the two in interest. Miroku merely cocked his head to the side.

"Yes?"

"As in a 'half-demon?'"

"Yes."

Gunther looked up at that.

"What do you mean?" The soldier asked. "A half-Titan? Like a three meter class Titan?"

"Three meters? No… Jinenji was certainly _big,_ but I doubt that he was more than two meters." Miroku chuckled. "Horses aren't _that_ large."

Oluo clucked, annoyed. "Horses? What?"

"Oops, I forgot to explain... Jinenji's father was a horse demon. Horses are such a domesticated species, I guess it should be expected then that he was so mild-mannered!"

This particular statement left most of Squad Levi rather stunned. Their little riding group had simply stopped, now.

"I'm… confused." Eld said plainly.

"I'm not sure I'm following." Petra confessed.

"Obviously, we're not talking about the same fucking thing here." Levi said impatiently.

Miroku looked bewildered as well.

"…I'm talking about half-demons." He offered hesitantly.

Hanji motioned back at the unconscious Jinenji.

"Yes, but this is a Titan…"

"So that's your people's word for a full demon."

The researcher shook her head.

"No," she replied "because there's no such thing as a half-demon. Titans cannot mate with humans."

Understanding of a _misunderstanding_ seemed to filter quickly through the monk. He glanced quickly at Jinenji, then back at Hanji, wearing an unsure expression all the while.

"A different being?" He murmured. "No, I don't think so. This thing killed someone—and look at its form! It's certainly not a shikigami, or a specter, or a holy deity. It's a demon, no doubt about it."

"We aren't talking about the same fucking thing here." Levi repeated, his infamously stony gaze locked onto Miroku. "Titans have no reproductive organs. Ergo, titans and humans cannot cross-breed."

' _That would be filthy.'_ The corporal added mentally.

Miroku remained resolute, though the obvious question—what is a titan?—nagged at the back of his mind.

"No. Jinenji over there is a demonic entity." He argued. "Even if his full form wasn't humanoid, many demons with speaking capability have the ability revert back to human form. I assure you, Jinenji is a demon."

"We'll see." Hanji supplied immediately, a fearsome gleam bouncing off her glasses. "Once we get back to Wall Sina, we'll see."

Levi accepted her resolution with resignation, and the expedition team was left both confused and thoughtful the whole ride back. Meanwhile, Jinenji remained at peace balanced atop of Eld and Gunther's horses, breathing deeply.

* * *

—

Miroku was a foreigner from Outside the Walls. The titans were also from Outside the Walls, and Miroku not only knew how to handle them, but displayed absolutely no fear in doing so. So what if he was superstitious and thought they were "demonic entities?" Hanji couldn't justly discredit anything he said simply because her own repertoire of knowledge didn't correlate with his: the whole reason she wanted to capture a titan in the first place was to find out more about them, after all. She had to get Miroku under her jurisdiction.

Regardless, that was ultimately up to Erwin. The commander had been presented with their guest immediately upon their return to base, and needless to say even _he_ was somewhat surprised at the unusual turn of events. Miroku was polite enough though, and bowed to their leader deeply when they met. Shortly into Erwin's subsequent mini-interrogation, however, the monk remembered something he had found on Ilse's body before Jinenji had charged into the clearing, and handed Erwin a tattered notebook stained with blood.

"It is disrespectful to take items from the dead," Miroku admitted "but I had been planning to leaf through it after securing some food. I assumed that the body was from an empty village nearby, and that her journal might hold clues to what had happened..."

Erwin Smith took the notebook into his hands with an unreadable expression.

"Thank you." He said calmly.

Miroku beamed while the others watched on with bated anticipation. Instead of continuing, however, Erwin flipped though the notebook in silence, taking caution with every delicate page corner he touched.

Minutes ticked by as their commander skimmed through the diary, finally stopping on the last sheet holding text. Levi, who stood by Erwin's side, noticed that the scrawl on this page was unfinished, barely legible, and seemingly panicked: it was also the page splattered most with blood. A rare expression of sadness flickered over the commander's face as he read the writing. Then, that sadness was gone, replaced by his usual taciturn mask. Erwin closed the notebook and shifted his gaze to the sleeping titan by Eld and Gunther.

"It seems you've helped us capture Isle's killer." He stated.

"Ah," Miroku said casually "So that's what she was called. It seems I have a name to pray for now!"

"And that is kind of you to do so." Erwin responded smoothly. "Despite your help in identifying one of our deceased, however, I'm afraid I'll still have to take you in. You are an unknown to us. Nonetheless, I assure you, that you are not being taken in as prisoner—"

"—oh, that doesn't matter," Miroku waved flippantly. "I've already agreed to come with you all. Though, if I may add one condition…"

"Which is?"

"...that my overseers are either lovely Hanji or lovely Petra." The man grinned shamelessly. "Or both."

"I'll do it!" Hanji volunteered immediately, as Petra blushed a violent red.

Levi and Erwin shot simultaneously blank looks at Miroku before the latter sighed, then handed the notebook to Hanji. The researcher was practically bouncing with delight at this point.

"Come," Erwin motioned to Miroku. "I will explain why I wish to take you back with us..."

* * *

—

The soldiers who had not gone on Hanji's little sub-expedition made no attempt at hiding their curiosity as their superiors trudged through base, bringing with them a startlingly cheerful foreigner. He smiled at them until they reached Erwin's impromptu office.

Erwin opened the door of the abandoned cottage and waved the monk inside.

"Such a gentleman!" Miroku quipped.

"Quite." Levi muttered sourly, as he entered the room.

Once settled, Miroku and his new acquaintances sat on opposite ends of a wooden dining table. The door had been locked and the windows had been shut; Miroku found it flattering that they considered him important enough to keep the exchange confidential.

"To start," Erwin said finally, leaning his back to the chair "Where do you come from?"

Miroku had long anticipated that question. This wasn't Tokyo, that much was obvious. Thankfully, unlike Inuyasha, he rarely spaced out when Kagome babbled on about her homeland. Her favorite stories to tell them were of her family vacations to a region called 'Hokkaido,' back when her father was still alive…

"Hokkaido." He answered easily. "It is a region far from here; it snows in the winter and rests along the sea."

Erwin nodded.

"We are not familiar with that region, not yet. How did you make your way to this area?"

His years as a wandering conman had left Miroku a flawless, convincing, and even charming liar.

"I don't much remember." He responded. "I was engaged in battle with a demon, lost, then woke up in that village. Demonic abilities sometimes have far-reaching consequences—in my case, quite literally."

Well, that was only a half-life, if you stretched the truth a little. Miroku _had_ been in a (one-sided) confrontation with Koga, which had led to him being thrown down the bone-eater's well…

"So you have no idea as to how to reach your homeland?"

"None whatsoever." Said Miroku. "But my friends should come looking for me soon. If your soldiers should happen upon them, their names are Inuyasha and Kagome."

"Dully noted." Levi intoned.

"What do they look like?" Hanji asked eagerly.

Miroku gazed at the trio of soldiers before him. He knew what she had meant when she asked that question; they all looked very Western, unlike him. Judging from the curious, even awed looks he had received from their comrades earlier, he gathered that they had never actually come across an Asian before.

"Like me." He answered readily. "Inuyasha and I have similar bone structures—though he has silver hair and golden eyes—while Kagome is a pretty young girl."

"No harm will come to them."

"Thank you. In any case, you mentioned that you would like to tell me your reason for taking me in?"

"Yes." Said Erwin. "Our civilization is under attack from the beings which you call 'demons' and what we call 'titans.'"

"They are one and the same."

"Perhaps." Answered Erwin, this time with a hint of amusement tugging at the corner of his lips. "That will be up to Hanji to deduce—with your help, of course."

"I've already agreed to that." He quipped, winking at an oblivious Hanji. Levi rolled his eyes.

"It is appreciated. Moving on, our civilization resides behind three walls, the outermost of which has already been destroyed. The Survey Corps—the military division I commandeer—is in charge of expeditions to the 'outside world,' to gather beneficial information for humankind. These expeditions are dependent on funding from royalty and nobles within the first wall. As of late, however, they've become hesitant to fund us due to the lack of new knowledge we've brought back in recent years. But this has changed with the discovery of your existence, as well as Isle's notebook and the Titan you've subdued." The conversation took a sudden turn. "You are an Oriental."

"That I am." Miroku conceded.

"Our civilization has long considered your people extinct." Erwin said seriously. "There was one Asian we knew of before you proved us wrong today, and she is only half-blood."

Miroku raised his brows to the ceiling at that. That definitely wasn't true, if Kagome and her family were any indication of reality. Unless…

Miroku felt his stomach lurch. Unless the well had brought him further into the future? That was a scary thought. Though he and Kagome would long be dead by then, the concept that their entire race of people would be wiped out was highly disturbing, especially after all the trouble they were going through to save Japan from Naraku.

He blinked these thoughts away and focused back to Erwin's narrative. Never mind. He couldn't obsess over something like that just yet; he had no idea what place or time he was even _in_ at the moment.

"In addition," Erwin continued "Isle's notebook indicates that there is more to titan behavior than we initially thought possible. _Her_ killer was a highly abnormal, and there may be others like him. Now that—thanks to you—we have a living, breathing test subject, we have physical proof that Scouting Legion's expeditions yield tangible results. You are also a valuable example of this."

"I'm glad." Miroku said, sincere. It seemed as though these people were in rather desperate straits.

"Unlike that titan, however, you are capable of prolonged, intelligent speech. You are capable of supporting our mission and stating in court that, indeed, there is an outside world worth exploring."

"Wait a minute—court? I believe you stated that I would not be taken prisoner..."

Hanji gave a heavy sigh.

 _"We_ won't." She admitted. "But to appeal to our superiors, we'll have to bring you back to the city, back within the first wall. There, the Military Police has complete authority. Knowing them, they'll probably arrest you, even if we _do_ call for your relative harmlessness."

"Harmlessness?" Miroku asked, with mock hurt. "Why, I assure you, Miss Hanji, I am a man of many dangers!"

"To titans _and_ to women, apparently." Levi muttered. Hanji laughed. "Anyway," said the corporal "I'll personally make sure that they don't fucking touch you. They might throw you into jail, sure, but as soon as you talk off your ass in court they'll let you out… and then we'll take you in."

"Until my friends come to get me." Miroku corrected.

"Until your friends come to get you." Erwin nodded.

"Well then, that's settled!" Hanji declared happily, standing up to stretch her arms.

"So it is." Erwin said quietly.

A wave of satisfaction settled over their little group. The three officers would never admit it, but none of them had felt this really, truly hopeful in a long, long time.

* * *

—

Their procession back to Wall Sina went as predicted, sort of.

Levi had made Miroku strip and don the standard military garb, while Hanji had helped secure a forest green Survey Corps cloak around his neck—much to the pervert's delight. Then they told him that he was not, under any circumstance, to take off the hood until they arrived to the Police headquarters.

...of course, Miroku didn't listen, and lifted his hood up to wink at a particularly pretty noble in the Ovrud District. His blatantly exotic features had sent ripples of murmurs throughout the surrounding crowd, and Team Levi ended up forming a protective human-horse bubble around him the rest of the way.

Levi had given Miroku a cold, scathing earful for a good twenty minutes until they met the Police Brigade. As expected, the bastards threw him in jail, though Levi stayed true to his world and kept the men from roughhousing him too badly.

A day passed.

And Miroku was due in court.

* * *

—

The wandering monk thought, idly, that the amount of hostility and tension in the room was somewhat stifling.

His pleasant, even enjoyable interactions with the Survey Corps had left him with a favorable first impression of these people. Now that Miroku found himself tied to a post in the middle of a courtroom, however, he realized that he had been rather lucky to run into Hanji and the others first. They reminded him of his friends, especially a certain dark-headed shortie...

Miroku glanced nonchalantly at Levi in the audience. The corporal was doing his best to ignore him.

Meanwhile, the judge's voice boomed:

"Should we trust this man to run amongst our people? This foreigner from outside the Walls, of whom we have nothing but his word that he stands no threat?"

The room erupted in a flurry of opinion, ranging to neutral to antagonistic to outright murderous. Miroku made faces at those who pointed. As the threats grew in intensity, however (especially from the Wallists, which was no real surprise) the monk decided he needed to speak up.

"I think you should!" Miroku called out cheerily. "I bear no ill will to your civilization, even now as you're treating me like a criminal!"

"He's lying!" cried a woman, from a seat near the back. Miroku squinted, and realized that it was the attractive noblewoman he had winked at upon entering Ovrud. "He tried to accost me!"

" _That's_ a lie!" Hanji snapped loudly, before Miroku could even react.

"Silence!" The judge bellowed, as the noise in the room intensified. "Order in the court!"

The heckles only became more deafening; some brave souls even began to throw things at him. When a rotten tomato hit his head, however, Miroku's saintly patience dissipated, and the holy man took things into his own hands again. After all, that was what Erwin more or less wanted him to do, albeit in a slightly less _insolent_ manner...

He cleared his voice once, twice—and when that didn't work, resorted to loud, hacking coughs accompanied by visible spittle flying from his mouth. That got everyone to shut up. An unknown man with a seemingly unknown illness usually left people afraid to breathe the air, after all.

Miroku wiped his lips on a shoulder.

"Just kidding!" He shouted merrily. "I'm healthy, I swear! In any case, while your xenophobia is understandable, these conjectures against me are all baseless. I'm an innocent man; my only crime seems to be that I'm from Beyond the Walls. If you kill me for that, my friends would not be happy!"

"Is that a threat?!" someone snarled, outraged.

"It's a fact." Miroku retorted bluntly. "I've said it before: I'm an innocent man. To kill me would be a blight on your justice system!"

"Shut his mouth!" a Garrison solider yelled.

"Yeah!"

"Such disrespect!"

"Judge, sentence him already!"

Miroku continued, undeterred:

"To kill me," he said in a more serious tone, "would undermine the survival of your race."

The cacophony hushed down. Erwin and Levi were smirking internally; Hanji was smiling from ear-to-ear.

"And what," the judge said dangerously "makes you say that?"

"The fact that your people have so much trouble subduing these... _titans._ I don't. I can help."

On the other side of the courtroom door, Petra lifted her head, signaling for Team Levi to wheel the titan in. It had been one hell of an ordeal trying to get the giant into the building without too many questions asked, and this was the opening they had all been waiting for.

The wheelbarrow they built overnight creaked as they shoved it through the doors, and the courtroom's reaction was borderline disastrous upon sight of the sleeping Jinenji.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Eld and Gunther were the ones to pry the sutras off Jinenji, while Petra and Oluo were the ones who rushed forth to release Miroku from his bindings. Screaming ensued, and soldiers began to climb over the railings with their swords drawn out.

Before anyone could enter the defendant's square, however, Jinenji woke up with a monstrous fit. The titan's caricature-like features were alright with confusion and fear as he screamed, shaking violently in the wooden wheelbarrow they had chained him in. None of the civilians, Wallists, Garrison soldiers, nor Royal Police had ever come face-to-face with an active Titan before, and so the room stilled accordingly, frozen with terror. The Titan's wide blue eyes darted in panic around the room. It began to hyperventilate once more.

" _ **YMIR'S…PEOPLE…"**_ it gasped.

The horrified atmosphere was mixed with astonishment now. In the midst of it all, Miroku merely stood up and rubbed his wrists, unperturbed. As their little group had planned meticulously before entering Wall Sina, this was the moment Miroku was going to whip out fresh sutra seals from his pants pocket—and so he did.

The sutras crackled and glowed with spiritual energy before he threw them again at Jinenji. The heaven, earth, and hell seals fizzled as they hit their marks. Jinenji screeched, Miroku set a hand under his chin and commanded _"Rest now,"_ and just like that, the titan fell back into dormancy.

The crowd was rendered speechless.

Eld, Gunther, Oluo, and Petra stood resolutely beside the monk. In the audience, Hanji was practically cheering, while Levi and Erwin stood expressionless, proud, waiting for the judge's reaction.

In the end, the Survey Corps got what they wanted. Miroku fell under their full jurisdiction, and the department received ample funding for future expeditions.

Miroku ate to his heart's content in their mess hall that night, and no one admonished him when he went back to skirt-chasing the female soldiers.

* * *

—

 **(One week later)**

Mikasa Ackermann was a striking girl, and until now, her unique features had only invited positive reactions from their fellow recruits.

Case in point: Jean Kirstein. He was the one who rallied to her defense now that the trainees had suddenly decided to brand her an anomaly.

"What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" the blond snarled, hauling a short soldier up by the collar of his shirt. "What's your problem with Mikasa?!"

"Calm down, Jean." Armin pleaded anxiously. "Don't make a scene!"

Jean shook his head. "No! These bastards need to tell us what's up!"

"Nothing's up!" the young man answered, panicked. "We—we were only curious is all!"

"About what?" Eren said dangerously, now inching to Jean's side.

The doctor's son hated the horse-face—that much hadn't changed—but even Eren had been growing steadily irritated by the hushed whispers and mutterings that accompanied his sister seemingly overnight. Mikasa herself was unnerved as well, though she tried hard not to let it show.

"We—err—well we heard—"

"—spit it out." Mikasa said calmly.

"—we heard that your family can kill titans with paper!" he blurted.

Eren, Armin, Jean, and Mikasa blinked.

"What?" Eren said, finally.

* * *

—

 **A/N:** Seemed like a good place to end or now. Hohohohohoho~


End file.
